LED and Laser Light Coupling Device and Method of Use

ABSTRACT

Techniques for light coupling are provided. Specifically, systems and methods to provide coupling of light emitted from one or more LEDs with light received by an optical fiber are presented.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/210,303,filed on Aug. 26, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber as AmbientLight Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,” the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, in itsentirety, for all that it teaches and for all purposes.

This application is also related to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/214,362, filed on Sep. 4, 2015, entitled “Laser Charging andOptical Bi-Directional Communications Using Standard USB Terminals,”62/212,844, filed on Sep. 1, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber asAmbient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,”62/216,861, filed on Sep. 10, 2015, entitled “Diffusive Optical Fiber asAmbient Light Sensors, Optical Signal Transceiver, Proximity Sensor,”62/193,037, filed on Jul. 15, 2015, entitled “Remote Device Charging,”62/195,726, filed on Jul. 22, 2015, entitled “Remote Device Charging,”and 62/197,321, filed on Jul. 27, 2015, entitled “Device Communication,Charging and User Interaction.” The entire disclosures of theapplications listed above are hereby incorporated by reference, in theirentirety, for all that they teach and for all purposes.

FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to light coupling, such as systems andmethods to couple light emitted from Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) withlight received by an optical fiber.

BACKGROUND

Existing systems to couple light emitted from an LED or other largelyincoherent sources to optical fiber are of low coupling efficiency.Typical coupling efficiencies of such relatively large numericalaperture light sources are well below 5%. In contrast, couplingefficiencies of lasers or other largely coherent light sources iscommonly above 95%. It is advantageous to use LEDs rather than lasers asfiber optical light sources because LEDs are typically less expensive tooperate and maintain. However, the use of LEDs as light sources in fiberoptics has been limited because of the afore-mentioned couplingefficiencies. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method tocouple light emitted from LEDs with light received by an optical fiber.This disclosure solves those needs.

By way of providing additional background, context, and to furthersatisfy the written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. §112, thefollowing references are incorporated by reference in their entireties:U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2007/0031089 to Tessnow and U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,677to Yang.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides systems and methods to provide coupling of lightemitted from one or more LEDs with light received by an optical fiber.

In one embodiment, an LED and light coupling device is disclosed, thedevice comprising: at least one LED configured to receive power andcontrol signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with afirst numerical aperture; a light coupler in optical communication withthe at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light andemitting a second light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptanceangle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the lightcoupler; wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the firstnumerical aperture to a second light with a second numerical apertureless than the first numerical aperture.

In another embodiment, a method of LED light coupling is disclosed, themethod comprising: providing an LED light coupling device comprising: i)at least one LED configured to receive power and receive controlsignals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with a firstnumerical aperture; ii) a light coupler in optical communication withthe at least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light andemitting a second light; and iii) an optical fiber comprising anacceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with thelight coupler; engaging the LED light coupling device with a powersource; providing power to the at least one LED from the power source;activating the at least one LED; emitting the first light to the lightcoupler; altering, within the light coupler, the first light wherein thefirst light with the first numerical aperture alters to a second lightwith a second numerical aperture less than the first numerical aperture;and providing the optical fiber with the second light.

In yet another embodiment, an LED fiber optics device is disclosed, thedevice comprising: at least one LED configured to receive power andcontrol signals, the at least one LED emitting a first light with afirst emission cone; a light coupler in optical communication with theat least one LED, the light coupler receiving the first light andemitting a second light; and an optical fiber comprising an acceptanceangle, the optical fiber in optical communication with the lightcoupler; wherein the light coupler alters the first light with the firstemission cone to a second light with a second emission cone less thanthe first emission cone; wherein a coupling efficiency between the firstlight and the second light is at least 95%.

In some alternative embodiments, the device and/or method of use furthercomprises: an electronic driver controlling the at least one LED;wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation;wherein the at least one LED is a surface-emitting LED; wherein the atleast one LED is three surface-emitting LEDs; wherein the second lightis received by the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of theoptical fiber; wherein the light coupler comprises an opticalintegrating sphere; wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens;wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the threesurface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degreeradials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere, whereina coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is atleast 95%.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 block diagram of the embodiment of the light coupling system;

FIG. 2 provides a representation of one embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3b provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3c provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4a provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4b provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4c provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4d provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4e provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4f provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4g provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of the light coupling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 provides a representation of another embodiment of theLED/coupler/fiber components of a light coupling system; and

FIG. 7 provides a flow chart of a method of use of the light couplingsystem of FIG. 1.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale.In certain instances, details that are not necessary for anunderstanding of the invention or that render other details difficult toperceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, thatthe invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodimentsillustrated herein.

To assist in the understanding of the present invention the followinglist of components and associated numbering found in the drawings isprovided herein:

Number Component 100 Device 200 Electronics 210 Electronics First End220 Electronics Second End 230 PCB 284 Electronics/LED Input/Output 300LED Module 310 LED Module First End 320 LED Module Second End 330 LEDModule Output 331 LED One 332 LED Two 333 LED Three 336 LED Shelf 341LED One Output 342 LED Two Output 343 LED Three Output 351 Micro LED 361Micro LED Output 400 Coupler 410 Coupler First End 420 Coupler SecondEnd 430 Optical Nozzle 441 Ball Lens First 442 Ball Lens Second 450Integrating Sphere 461 Ball Lens One 462 Ball Lens Two 463 Ball LensThree 470 Integrating Hemisphere 480 Diffractive Element 486 CouplerOutput 490 Focusing Lens 492 Reflective Lens 500 Fiber Optic 510 FiberOptic First End 520 Fiber Optic Second End 540 Coating 600 Power Supply682 Power Supply Power

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosedtechniques. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat the present embodiments may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, componentsand circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure thepresent disclosure.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussionsutilizing terms such as, for example, “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analyzing”, “checking”,or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer,a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system orsubsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/ortransform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantitieswithin the computer's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computer'sregisters and/or memories or other information storage medium that maystore instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms“plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example,“multiple” or “two or more”. The terms “plurality” or “a plurality” maybe used throughout the specification to describe two or more components,devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like.

The term “LED” means Light-Emitting Diode and refers to a semiconductorthat converts an electrical current into light, and includes allavailable LEDs types such as surface-emitting LEDs and edge-emittingLEDs.

The term “light coupling” means providing or supplying light to or intoa fiber.

The term “waveguide” means a structure that guides waves of light.

The term “coupling efficiency” means the efficiency of power transferbetween two optical components.

The term “incoherent light” means light with frequent and random changesof phase between the photons resulting in a spread of light. I contrast,“coherent light” means a beam of photons that have the same frequencyand are all at the same frequency, producing a stream or beam of light.

The term “numerical aperture” means a dimensionless number thatcharacterizes the range of angles over which the system can accept oremit light.

The term “emission cone” or “emitting cone” or “acceptance cone” means adefined geometric cone within which light will be accepted and outsideof which light will not be accepted.

The term “angle of acceptance” means a defined geometric angle withinwhich light will be accepted and outside of which light will not beaccepted.

The term “fiber optics” or “optical fiber” means a flexible, transparentfiber made by drawing glass/silica or plastic.

Before undertaking the description of embodiments below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well asderivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,”is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and“associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean toinclude, be included within, interconnect with, interconnected with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, or the like; and the term “controller”means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least oneoperation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, circuitry,firmware or software, or combination of at least two of the same. Itshould be noted that the functionality associated with any particularcontroller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally orremotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are providedthroughout this document and those of ordinary skill in the art shouldunderstand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions applyto prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should beappreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in avariety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.Furthermore, while the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein showvarious components of the system collocated, it is to be appreciatedthat the various components of the system can be located at distantportions of a distributed network, such as a communications network,node, and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated secured, unsecured,and/or encrypted system and/or within a network operation or managementdevice that is located inside or outside the network. As an example, awireless device can also be used to refer to any device, system ormodule that manages and/or configures or communicates with any one ormore aspects of the network or communications environment and/ortransceiver(s) and/or stations and/or access point(s) described herein.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the system can becombined into one or more devices, or split between devices.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links, includingthe communications channel(s) connecting the elements can be wired orwireless links or any combination thereof, or any other known or laterdeveloped element(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data toand from the connected elements. The term module as used herein canrefer to any known or later developed hardware, circuit, circuitry,software, firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable ofperforming the functionality associated with that element. The termsdetermine, calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used hereinare used interchangeable and include any type of methodology, process,technique, mathematical operational or protocol.

With attention to FIGS. 1-6, embodiments of the light coupling system100 are depicted.

Generally, the device 100 comprises electronics 200, LED module 300,coupler 400 and fiber optic 500. Electronics 200 comprises electronicsfirst end 210 and electronics second end 220. Electronics 200 maycomprise an LED drive circuit. Electronics 200 receives power supplypower 682 from power supply 600. LED module 300 comprises LED modulefirst end 310, LED module second end 320 and communicates withelectronics 200 by electronics/LED input/output 284. LED module 300 maycomprise LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333. LED module 300outputs an LED module output 330 (aka a first light) to coupler 400.Coupler 400 comprises coupler first end 410 and coupler second end 420,and outputs a coupler output 486 (aka a second light) to fiber optic(aka optical fiber) 500. Fiber optic 500 comprises a fiber optic firstend 510 and a fiber optic second end 520. Broadly, LED module 300 emitsnon-coherent light (e.g. a “first light”) of large emission cone intocoupler 400, wherein the coupler 400 alters the received light to anarrow or smaller emission cone (e.g. a “second light”) for receipt bythe fiber optic 500. The coupler 400 alters the first light relativelylarge light emission cone to a narrower or smaller emission cone that iswithin the angle of acceptance of the fiber optic 500. Without thecoupler 400 operating on the first light, most of the first light wouldnot fall within the angle of acceptance of the fiber optic 500 (yieldinga very low coupling efficiency, e.g. below 5%). In contrast, with thecoupler 400, a high coupling efficiency is obtained, e.g. above 95%).

FIG. 2-5 provide various embodiments of the light coupling system 100 ofFIG. 1. Most of the embodiments optically couple, through the use of oneor more optical components, one or more LEDs so as to provide morefocused light to a fiber optic.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a series of two ball lens are employed as acoupler. More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED module output 330light from LED module second end 320 so as to be received by ball lensfirst 441, which in turn outputs light to ball lens second 442. Balllens second 442 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiber optic 500.

Conventionally, in laser to optical fiber coupling, two equal size balllenses are placed symmetrically between the laser source and opticalfiber. This configuration does not work well with LED sources due tosource to optical fiber core size ratio and incoherency. In FIG. 2, thelight from LED sources directly couple with a smaller ball lens insidethe polished metal cavity. The highly reflective metal cavity surface isused as the first stage beam concentrator to reflect light rays from LEDsource towards the small ball lens. The small ball lens has strong raybending power due to its large curvature. The small ball lens uses thishigh bending power to coarsely focus the light rays toward the opticalfiber core. Another large ball lens with less bending power providesfine focus to the light rays toward the optical fiber core area. Thesize ratio between the two ball lenses has a direct relationship withthe LED size and fiber core diameter ratio. The optical materials of thetwo ball lenses are not limited to the same material.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3a , the LED module 300 comprises a micro LED351. More specifically, micro LED 351 emits LED module output 330 lightfrom LED module second end 320 so as to be received directly by fiberoptic 500 at fiber optic first end 510. Such a configuration, devoid ofa coupler 400, is termed a butt-coupling arrangement.

Note that the LED to optical fiber coupling efficiency may bedramatically improved by reducing the LED size from millimeter level tomicrometer level that is on the same order as multimodal fiber corediameter. Micrometer size LED may couple with multimodal optical fiberdirectly (butt coupling) or by using micro lens on top of the LED.Micrometer size LED may be a single LED or an array of LEDs of anyconfiguration. The potential coupling efficiency of micrometer size LEDsto multimodal fiber could reach 30%+ theoretically.

In some embodiments, The array of micrometer size LEDs could beconfigured with R G and B color micrometer size LEDs at any mixingratio. The R G and B color light would be coupled into the multimodaloptical fiber together. Color mixing may occur inside the optical fibercore area. A mixed RGB micrometer size LEDs coupling and color mixingmechanism may create any single color (RGB mixed) light output.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3b , a cross-sectional view of light couplingdevice 100 is shown. In this embodiment, LED Module 300 emits light soas to be reflected within a surrounding collar or cylinder-shapedcoupler 400, wherein more focused light enters fiber optic 500 at fiberoptic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3c , a set of three (3) LEDs, i.e. LED one331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are butt coupled (that is, placedagainst or adjacent the entry to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic firstend 510), wherein the light emitted from the three LEDs enters fiberoptic 500 and is focused or altered or redirected by optical nozzle 430.Upon leaving optical nozzle (which may comprise a metallic interior orinner surface), the received light has a lower or narrower emission coneso as to be received by optical fiber at a greater or increased couplingefficiency. Optical Nozzle 430 exterior surface may comprise anoptically diffusive material. Interior of fiber optic 500 may comprise acoating 540, such as a transparent cladding material to facilitate totalinternal reflection of light within the fiber optic 500. Optical nozzle430 may comprise a waveguide and optically clear material. In oneembodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected fromthe primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided,one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

Traditionally, LEDs have very low coupling efficiency because theconventional way to couple light from source to fiber is based ongeometric imaging mapping in which the light source's image spatialinformation is preserved. Such an approach is limited by the principleof optical invariance or LaGrange invariance, in which the product ofbeam angle and beam waste is an invariant. The optical invariance showsthe relationships between LED source size, acceptance angles (on bothsource and optical fiber), and optical fiber diameter. To solve thisdilemma, one must break the source image's spatial information toimprove the coupling efficiency: putting the light from LED sourcesthrough some lossless diffusive optical component would be the way tobreak the LED source spatial pattern, while simultaneously preserve theillumination intensity (energy) and optical wavelength (colorspectrums). One such a lossless diffusive optical component is anintegrating sphere.

The integrating sphere is a (nearly) lossless diffusive opticalcomponent. The integrating sphere is an optically hollow (transparent)sphere with its inner wall painted with highly diffusive white paints.The diffusive paints also have very reflectivity (>95%˜99%). The light(from LED source) entering the integrating sphere would scatter andbounce within the white diffusive sphere wall until it reaches an exitport (inserted optical fiber). This process is lossless (almost) andcolor spectrums maintained. Inside the optical clear sphere cavity, theillumination intensity is uniformly distributed in every direction. Thelight coupled into the exit port only relates to the sphere size to exitport surface size ratio. The diffusive and color spectrums maintainednature of the integrating sphere makes it to be the ideal opticalcolor-mixing chamber.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4a , an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler.More specifically, LED Module 300 emits LED module output 330 light fromLED module second end 320 so as to be received by integrating sphere450. Integrating sphere 450 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiberoptic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere may be made by combining twometal pieces, each forming a half sphere cavity. One half sphere has alarge hole to host the LED active area, and the other has a small hole(exit port) to host the optical fiber. The inner sphere surfaces arepainted with highly reflective, diffusive white paint. Light from an LEDenters the integrating sphere, is diffused and mixed, and then exits toexit port to couple directly into optical fiber.

In one embodiment, an optical tapper replaces the optical fiber at theexit port. The optical tapper has a large surface area at the exit portend. The optical tapper's small end has the same size as optical fibercore surface. The optical tapper is used to increase the exit port sizeto improve the coupling efficiency.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4b , an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler.More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331, LED two 332and LED three 333 each emiting respectively LED one output 341, LED twooutput 342 and LED three output 343, provide light to received byintegrating sphere 450. The three LEDs are configured to generallydirect light emissions to a common location on integrating sphere 450.Integrating sphere 450 emits light as coupler output 486 to fiber optic500 at fiber optic first end 510. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LEDtwo 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red,green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellowand blue emitted light.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4c , an integrating sphere 450 is a coupler.More specifically, LED Module 300, comprising LED one 331, LED two 332and LED three 333 each emitting respectively LED one output 341, LED twooutput 342 and LED three output 343, provide light to received byintegrating sphere 450. However, in contrast, to FIG. 4b , each of thethree LEDs are positioned at 90 degree separated radials about anequatorial axis of the integrating sphere 450 (e.g., at a 0 degree, 90degree, and 180 deg. radial). Fiber optic 500 is located at theremaining 270 degree radial. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red, green,blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellow and blueemitted light.

In one embodiment, the set of three LEDs, when mounted as depicted inFIG. 4c , serve to maximize thermal dissipation efficiency.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere is used as a mix chamber toremove any unwanted laser sparking effect.

In one embodiment, the integrating sphere, when integrated with thered/green/blue LEDs discussed above (or any set of colored LEDs), isused as an optical color-mixing chamber to create any color at an exitport into an optical fiber. Variable color output into optical fiber isfeasible by changing the individual intensity of input color LEDs'electronically.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4d , an integrating hemisphere 470 is acoupler and disposed on a PCB 230. More specifically, LED Module 300,disposed in the lower plane (i.e. a flat surface) of the integratinghemisphere 470, emits LED module output 330 light so as to be receivedby integrating hemisphere 470 and output to fiber optic 500. The exposedarea on the flat surface of the half sphere would be painted with white,highly reflective, diffusive paint. This configuration reduces theintegrating sphere size and increases the hosted LED active area surfaceor the number of LED on a plane surface. This configuration hasadvantages on thermal dissipating and LED's PCB layout.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4e , an integrating sphere 450 is a couplerand three (3) LEDs are mounted on LED shelf 336 within integratingsphere 450. The three (3) LEDs are LED one 331, LED two 332 and LEDthree 333. Light emitted from integrating sphere 450 is provided tofiber optic 500 after passing through ball lens first 441. In oneembodiment, LED one 331, LED two 332 and LED three 333 are selected fromthe primary colors of red, green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided,one each of red, yellow and blue emitted light.

In one embodiment, the LED shelf 336 is a transparent PCB boardstructure.

In one embodiment, the LED/LEDs are placed at the center of theintegrating sphere by a supporting rod. The supporting rod is used towire the LEDs and dissipate heat. LED/LEDs may mount vertically tomaximize the LED active area.

In some embodiments, ball lens first 441 is fitted to fiber optic firstend 510, as depicted in FIG. 4e . Stated another way, a small ball lensis placed at the exit port. The optical fiber end is placed at the balllens's focal point. The small ball lens is used to increase the exitport surface size and focus the light onto the optical fiber end. Thismay increase the exit port to optical fiber coupling efficiency.

In some embodiments, light received by fiber optic first end 510 issubstantially within the fiber optic acceptance cone. In someembodiments, light received by fiber optic first end 510 is all withinthe fiber optic acceptance cone. In some embodiments, the couplingefficiency between the one or more LEDs of the LED module 300 and thefiber optic first end 510, as enabled by the coupler 400, is preferablygreater than 90%. In a more preferred embodiment, the couplingefficiency is greater than 95%. In a most preferred embodiment, thecoupling efficiency is greater than 97%.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4f , coupler 400 comprises diffractive element480 and focusing lens 490. Light emitted by LED module 300 is receivedby diffractive element 480, which, generally, straightens the otherwisebroad light cone emitted by LED module 300. Focusing lens 490 receiveslight from diffractive element 480 and focuses or narrows the receivedlight so as to provide a narrower or tighter cone of light to fiberoptic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4g , a pair of LEDs, i.e. LED One 331 and LEDtwo 332, emit light so as to reflect from reflective lens 492 so as tobe received by focusing lens 490. Focusing lens 490 in turn transmitslight to fiber optic 500 at fiber optic first end 510.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a set of three ball lens are configured toreceive a set of three light emissions from three LEDs. Morespecifically, each of three (3) LEDs, that is LED one 331, LED two 332and LED three 333, emit respective LED one output 341, LED two output342, and LED three output 343 to respective ball lens one 461, ball lenstwo 462 and ball lens three 463, wherein the three light emissions arefocused into one merged coupler output 486 before entering fiber optic510 at fiber optic first end 510. In one embodiment, LED one 331, LEDtwo 332 and LED three 333 are selected from the primary colors of red,green, blue, that is three LEDs are provided, one each of red, yellowand blue emitted light.

FIG. 6 provides a design for a diffusive optical fiber 500 which may,for example, be useful for illumination and display purposes. Any of theabove disclosed coupling designs may be utilized at the paired ends of afiber optic 500. In FIG. 6, each of two paired integrating spheres 450direct light into opposing ends of fiber optic 500, as generated by eachof two respective LED modules 300. Such a configuration increases thetotal amount of light coupled into the fiber core area, or provides amix of color. In one embodiment, a mirror or other optical element (e.g.a ball lens) with high reflectance is disposed at one or more ends ofthe fiber optic. The excessive illumination light could be bounced backfor second diffusive radiation along the fiber core.

Power supply 600 may be any power supply known to those skilled in theart, such as a standard wall outlet, a personal computer, or a laptopcomputer, and may be a wireless connection. Electronics 200 receivespower from power supply used, among other things, to power and controlthe one or more LEDs of the LED module 300.

In one embodiment, the device 100 comprises its own power supply, suchas a battery such as a lithium battery, so as to power the one or moreLEDs and provide any set of functions disclosed above.

In one embodiment, a polished (inner surface) metal tube/cone could beinserted into the optical fiber or taper. The coned inner surface wouldguide the light from micrometer size LED or LED array towards the fiber.This approach may increase the accommodation of more micrometer sizeLEDs.

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, FIG. 7 provides a flow chart illustratingan exemplary method of use of the light coupling system 100. Generally,the method 700 starts at step 704 and ends at step 728.

At step 708 of the method 700, the device 100 is engaged with powersupply 600 and receives power supply power 682. The power is received byelectronics 200 at electronics first end 210. At step 712, the one ormore LEDs of LED module 300 are activated, which may comprise poweron/off, frequency modulation, and power modulation. At step 716, lightis transmitted by the one or more LEDs to the coupler 400. The lightemitted by LEDs is generally of large or wide emission cone and/or largenumerical aperture.

At step 720, the LED transmitted light is received by coupler 400 andprocessed to, among other things, focus the light to a narrower ortighter emission cone or smaller numerical aperture, wherein theprocessed light is transmitted. At step 724, the processed light emittedfrom the coupler 400 is received by the fiber optic 500 and transmittedthrough the fiber optic. The method then ends at step 728.

In the detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed techniques.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that thepresent techniques may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail so as not to obscure the presentdisclosure.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, discussionsutilizing terms such as, for example, “processing,” “computing,”“calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analysing”, “checking”,or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer,a computing platform, a computing system, a communication system orsubsystem, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/ortransform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantitieswithin the computer's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computer'sregisters and/or memories or other information storage medium that maystore instructions to perform operations and/or processes.

Although embodiments are not limited in this regard, the terms“plurality” and “a plurality” as used herein may include, for example,“multiple” or “two or more”. The terms “plurality” or “a plurality” maybe used throughout the specification to describe two or more components,devices, elements, units, parameters, circuits, or the like. Forexample, “a plurality of stations” may include two or more stations.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,interconnected with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with,couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave,juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a propertyof, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system orpart thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may beimplemented in hardware, circuitry, firmware or software, or somecombination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that thefunctionality associated with any particular controller may becentralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions forcertain words and phrases are provided throughout this document andthose of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, ifnot most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as futureuses of such defined words and phrases.

For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present techniques. It should beappreciated however that the present disclosure may be practiced in avariety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links (which maynot be shown connecting the elements), including the communicationschannel(s) connecting the elements, can be wired or wireless links orany combination thereof, or any other known or later developedelement(s) capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and fromthe connected elements. The term module as used herein can refer to anyknown or later developed hardware, circuit, circuitry, software,firmware, or combination thereof, that is capable of performing thefunctionality associated with that element. The terms determine,calculate, and compute and variations thereof, as used herein are usedinterchangeable and include any type of methodology, process, technique,mathematical operational or protocol.

Moreover, while some of the exemplary embodiments described herein aredirected toward a transmitter portion of a transceiver performingcertain functions, or a receiver portion of a transceiver performingcertain functions, this disclosure is intended to include correspondingand complementary transmitter-side or receiver-side functionality,respectively, in both the same transceiver and/or anothertransceiver(s), and vice versa.

While the above-described flowcharts have been discussed in relation toa particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changesto this sequence can occur without materially effecting the operation ofthe embodiment(s). Additionally, the exact sequence of events need notoccur as set forth in the exemplary embodiments. Additionally, theexemplary techniques illustrated herein are not limited to thespecifically illustrated embodiments but can also be utilized with theother exemplary embodiments and each described feature is individuallyand separately claimable.

Additionally, the systems, methods and protocols can be implemented toimprove one or more of a special purpose computer, a programmedmicroprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuitelement(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signalprocessor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discreteelement circuit, a programmable logic device such as PLD, PLA, FPGA,PAL, a modem, a transmitter/receiver, any comparable means, or the like.In general, any device capable of implementing a state machine that isin turn capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein canbenefit from the various communication methods, protocols and techniquesaccording to the disclosure provided herein.

Examples of the processors as described herein may include, but are notlimited to, at least one of Qualcomm® Snapdragon® 800 and 801, Qualcomm®Snapdragon® 610 and 615 with 4G LTE Integration and 64-bit computing,Apple® A7 processor with 64-bit architecture, Apple® M7 motioncoprocessors, Samsung® Exynos® series, the Intel® Core™ family ofprocessors, the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, the Intel® Atom™family of processors, the Intel Itanium® family of processors, Intel®Core® i5-4670K and i7-4770K 22 nm Haswell, Intel® Core® i5-3570K 22 nmIvy Bridge, the AMD® FX™ family of processors, AMD® FX-4300, FX-6300,and FX-8350 32 nm Vishera, AMD® Kaveri processors, Texas Instruments®JacintoC6000™ automotive infotainment processors, Texas Instruments®OMAP™ automotive-grade mobile processors, ARM® Cortex™-M processors,ARM® Cortex-A and ARM926EJ-S™ processors, Broadcom® AirForceBCM4704/BCM4703 wireless networking processors, the AR7100 WirelessNetwork Processing Unit, other industry-equivalent processors, and mayperform computational functions using any known or future-developedstandard, instruction set, libraries, and/or architecture.

Furthermore, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented insoftware using object or object-oriented software developmentenvironments that provide portable source code that can be used on avariety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, thedisclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware usingstandard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware isused to implement the systems in accordance with the embodiments isdependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, theparticular function, and the particular software or hardware systems ormicroprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized. Thecommunication systems, methods and protocols illustrated herein can bereadily implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or laterdeveloped systems or structures, devices and/or software by those ofordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional descriptionprovided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer andtelecommunications arts.

Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in softwareand/or firmware that can be stored on a storage medium to improve theperformance of: a programmed general-purpose computer with thecooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, amicroprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methodscan be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated communicationsystem or system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and softwaresystems of a communications transceiver.

Various embodiments may also or alternatively be implemented fully orpartially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware maytake the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium. Those instructions may then be readand executed by one or more processors to enable performance of theoperations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitableform, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpretedcode, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such acomputer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory mediumfor storing information in a form readable by one or more computers,such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory(RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flashmemory, etc.

It is therefore apparent that there has at least been provided systemsand methods for light coupling. While the embodiments have beendescribed in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evidentthat many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or areapparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly,this disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives,modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit andscope of this disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An LED and light coupling device comprising: atleast one LED configured to receive power and control signals, the atleast one LED emitting a first light with a first numerical aperture; alight coupler in optical communication with the at least one LED, thelight coupler receiving the first light and emitting a second light; andan optical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber inoptical communication with the light coupler; wherein the light coupleralters the first light with the first numerical aperture to a secondlight with a second numerical aperture less than the first numericalaperture.
 2. The device of claim 1, further comprising an electronicdriver controlling the at least one LED.
 3. The device of claim 2,wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises power modulation.4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED is asurface-emitting LED.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least oneLED is three surface-emitting LEDs.
 6. The device of claim 4, whereinthe second light is received by the optical fiber within the acceptanceangle of the optical fiber.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the lightcoupler comprises an optical integrating sphere.
 8. The device of claim1, wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens.
 9. The device ofclaim 5, wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the threesurface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degreeradials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere, whereina coupling efficiency between the first light and the second light is atleast 95%.
 10. A method of LED light coupling comprising: providing anLED light coupling device comprising: i) at least one LED configured toreceive power and receive control signals, the at least one LED emittinga first light with a first numerical aperture; ii) a light coupler inoptical communication with the at least one LED, the light couplerreceiving the first light and emitting a second light; and iii) anoptical fiber comprising an acceptance angle, the optical fiber inoptical communication with the light coupler; engaging the LED lightcoupling device with a power source; providing power to the at least oneLED from the power source; activating the at least one LED; emitting thefirst light to the light coupler; altering, within the light coupler,the first light wherein the first light with the first numericalaperture alters to a second light with a second numerical aperture lessthan the first numerical aperture; and providing the optical fiber withthe second light.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising anelectronic driver controlling the at least one LED.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the control of the at least one LED comprises powermodulation.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the control of the atleast one LED comprises power modulation.
 14. The method of claim 10,wherein the at least one LED is a surface-emitting LED.
 15. The methodof claim 10, wherein the at least one LED is three surface-emittingLEDs.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the second light is receivedby the optical fiber within the acceptance angle of the optical fiber,wherein a coupling efficiency between the first light and the secondlight is at least 95%.
 17. The method of claim 10, the light couplercomprises an optical integrating sphere.
 18. The method of claim 10,wherein the light coupler comprises a ball lens.
 19. The method of claim15, wherein the light coupler is an optical sphere and the threesurface-emitting LEDs are disposed at 0 degree, 90 degree and 180 degreeradials about an equatorial circumference of the optical sphere.
 20. AnLED fiber optics device comprising: at least one LED configured toreceive power and control signals, the at least one LED emitting a firstlight with a first emission cone; a light coupler in opticalcommunication with the at least one LED, the light coupler receiving thefirst light and emitting a second light; and an optical fiber comprisingan acceptance angle, the optical fiber in optical communication with thelight coupler; wherein the light coupler alters the first light with thefirst emission cone to a second light with a second emission cone lessthan the first emission cone; wherein a coupling efficiency between thefirst light and the second light is at least 95%.